Still, I give his titles to my salespeople and they seem to eat his words like candy. Jeffrey focuses on the basics of selling (being accountable, delivering value, making yourself different) and such themes never go out of style, no matter how many times you read them.

What I like about this book is that Jeffrey has taken key principles of persuasion and influence and broken them down into easy to implement ideas. He makes adding the persuasion and influence principles to your existing sales process not only simple but effective.

One of the areas where I think this book really shines is when Jeffrey talks about speaking to influence. As one of the most prolific speakers working today, he brings a unique blend of personal insight, techniques that have stood the test of time and audiences. These tips alone are some of the most valuable in the book.

If you are new to the area of persuasion this book will be a great starting point for you. If you are a seasoned pro who fully understands persuasion, you’ll find this book an exceptional review of core concepts.

Jeffrey has written another book that is fun to read, practical and valuable to virtually any sales professional.

Others have their own reasons for their praise of this book. Here are three of mine. First, I appreciate the visual format within which Gitomer presents his material. Key points are brilliantly displayed with a variety of colors, font sizes, use of bold and italic faces, and page location. Also, I appreciate the strategic insertion of dozens of quotations and insights, each of which is directly relevant to the given context. Here are three of my personal favorites:

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people, than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” - Dale Carnegie

“Being a person of influence means that you have reputation, character, credibility, and stature enough that people will take your message seriously. [They] come from your track record and your success record combined with your perceived expertise.” - Gitomer

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Finally, I admire Gitomer’s characteristically pragmatic approach. All of his observations and recommendations are driven by his determination to explain “why” and “how.” The narrative is mercifully free of general theories, pretentious rhetoric, and problematic assumptions. I hasten to add that there is a total lack of cynicism. He assumes that each reader has a point of view that is well thought-out, sincere, authentic, and worthy of careful consideration.

Argumentation is one of the four levels of classical discourse, the others being exposition (explaining with information), description (making vivid with compelling details, and narration (telling a story with a sequence of events or developing a sequence of separate but related ideas). The term “argumentation” is sometimes misunderstood to mean arguing when, in fact, its purpose is to persuade with logic and/or evidence.

Gitomer understands all this, of course, and effectively uses each of the other three levels of discourse when explaining how to “sell your point of view to others.” (Be sure to check out the “8.5 key elements that make up your ability to persuade others and get your way” on Pages 40-41.) He also has a solid understanding of human nature. Therefore, throughout his narrative, he includes frequent reminders to take human skepticism, insecurity, and (yes) recalcitrance into full account. As indicated earlier, with all due respect to Gitomer’s inventive mind and passion for communicating, he is ultimately a pragmatist. That is, he is almost wholly preoccupied with helping others to understand what “works,” what doesn’t, and most importantly, why.

More a quibble than a complaint, the next edition should have an index.

This may be a “small book” in certain respects but, one man’s opinion, it offers a wealth of practical advice with eloquence and enthusiasm. Well-done!

There are so many valuable aspects of this publication that it is truly impossible to pick only one. I am most impressed by the fact that Mr. Dillehay wastes no space or time here. Everything he has written is relevant, concise and up-to-date. He suggests nothing that he hasn’t tried himself and found to be worthwhile. How many How-To books authors can you say that about?

He saves the reader a fortune in time–by relating exactly how he jumped many techno-hurdles and money-wasting production situations. He also points out a myriad of proven strategies to extract dollars and wealth-building opportunities from ebooks–long after most traditionally printed books will be “out-to-pasture.” Add the numerous links to established, helpful websites that are thoughtfully included in his text, and you have a FIVE-STAR manuscript–a mentor on paper.

Well, don’t spend anymore time reading my opinion..just order this ebook a.s.a.p. and make your dream of being heard (and seen!) a reality. THANK YOU, James!!

We ordered this toy after reading some of the reviews. We were looking forward to having our son start using this toy to help him improve his writing skills. We were disappointed to find out that the writing recognition technology (even though it works great) does not recognize the correct letters written. For example, we were practicing the letter G. We wanted to see what happened if we entered a wrong letter. After entering an “A” instead of “G” and pressing the check mark, the toy claimed a correct response. This is very misleading for young writers. Other things we did not like about the toy were its tiny screen and the fact that it only teaches upper case letters. We did like the fat grip pen and the spoken and visual directions. Over all the toy is fun and education, but we would like to see Vtech fix or improve these issues.

Thanks